


Hearts on Fire

by juliathephantom (knitsessed)



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020), Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Everyone Is Alive, Except Rose - Freeform, F/M, Fake Dating, Instagram, Julie Molina has anxiety, Julie has panic attacks, Luke has no chill, No beta we die like Sunset Curve, Panic Attacks, Sunset Curve (Julie and The Phantoms), Tumblr Prompt, alive phantoms, but they decide to actually date so..., famous!Luke - Freeform, i reuse my own ocs, julie tags him in a selfie saying 'date me', like a lot of love songs, luke breaks up with his fake girlfriend, luke patterson is a puppy, luke writes julie love songs, so he decides to
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:01:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29766255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knitsessed/pseuds/juliathephantom
Summary: Based on the prompt “you’re a celebrity who just broke up and I tweeted you a selfie with the caption “date me” as a joke but you thought I was serious?”Luke Patterson, famous frontman of the band Sunset Curve, breaks up with his (fake) girlfriend. Julie Molina, college student, tags him on a selfie on Instagram with the caption 'date me.' Julie's pretty and talented so Luke decides to go for it.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn & Julie Molina, Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 156
Kudos: 162





	1. The Post

**Author's Note:**

> I have writers block on both of my other fics so I tried writing this to get my mojo back and thought I'd post it.  
> Bolded text is phone communication (someone talking through the phone or seen as a text/DM)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs Used:   
> Wake Up- JATP  
> Now or Never- JATP  
> I Got the Music- JATP  
> Boulevard of Broken Dreams- Green Day

So maybe it wasn’t Luke’s best plan. If he’d told Alex beforehand, the drummer would have looked high-key disappointed and would have tried to talk him out of it. So no, he didn’t tell Alex. Or Reggie. Or anyone. He just... DM’d her.

Okay, context time. He had just officially broken up with Liz Larson, ‘America’s pop princess.’ He and Liz were just friends, really, and let people think they were dating only because they wanted to have someone to take to awards shows and charity balls. But Liz had found Sean Matthews, some old-money guy with just about no personality and she’d fallen in love. (Luke still didn’t know how Sean had gotten Liz to fall in love with him when he was just so... bland.) Anyway, because Liz wanted to get together with Sean, they ‘ended things.’ He couldn’t call it a breakup because they weren’t actually together, but... his PR people said he needed to make a ‘statement.’

So, a ‘statement.’ He posted some nauseatingly sweet BS about how he and Liz grew apart and how he hoped they’d stay friends and that he wished her luck on her new album. Liz liked his post and replied with ‘aww... thanks! See you at the Grammys.’

That simple exchange blew up social media, though. People were posting about the breakup and who he was going to date next and he was just... done. Then he saw her post. A selfie. ‘@sunsetluke date me’ And the girl, @juliethephantom, was cute. He frowned. She was more than cute. She was gorgeous and he was lonely and so he did it. He clicked on her profile.

@juliethephantom is a fan. A really fucking talented fan. There are videos on her Instagram of her singing Sunset Curve songs and he’s gotta be honest: her drunken karaoke version of  _ Now or Never _ sounds better than the actual song. She’s got a voice like a wrecking ball and it breaks through all the logic telling him that messaging her is a bad idea. 

What really does it, though, is the video of her singing a song that he doesn’t recognize. The caption on that video is ‘ _ Wake Up _ . Written by Rose Molina. Video by Ray Molina. I miss you, mom.’ The song makes much better use of @juliethephantom’s vocal range and the emotion in her voice makes him want to hug her.

She’s wearing a USC t-shirt in the next photo, he notes. That means she spends at least most of the year in LA and he can meet her in person. That does it. He’s gotta meet this girl with a voice like a wrecking ball and a face like an angel. Alex is gonna kill him, but...

**‘Hey.’** He slides into her DMs.

**‘Hi.’** She responds after a few minutes. Luke absolutely was not staring at his phone waiting (no, really, he wasn’t!).

**‘You’re a really good singer.’** He tells her.

**‘Thx’**

**‘Wanna get dinner?’**

**‘Seriously?’**

**‘yup. you told me to date you, so I’m gonna.’** The message shows as ‘read,’ but @juliethephantom doesn’t respond.

* * *

In a small apartment near the USC campus, @juliethephantom, better known as Julie Molina, gapes at her phone.  
“Flynn!” she shrieks. 

A girl with long box braids comes running into the room. “Is everything okay?”

Julie shoves her phone into Flynn’s hands. “Look at this!”

Flynn bursts out laughing when she reads the message thread. “You actually did it?”

Julie had joked about making the post when they first found out that Luke Patterson and Liz Larson had broken up and Flynn had dared her to do it but she hadn’t expected Julie to actually do it.

“It was a joke! I wasn’t expecting him to even see the post much less respond!” Julie groans. “What do I say? How do I tell him it was a joke and that I’m not actually going to date him?”

Flynn frowns. “Why aren’t you going to date him? He’s your celebrity crush, Jules. You’ve been half in love with him for basically his whole career.”

“I know! That’s why I can’t date him. I can’t set myself up to fall all the way in love with him, Flynnie. I can’t handle the heartbreak.”

“Why are you so sure it’ll end in heartbreak?” Flynn asks. “You guys might fall madly in love and end up getting married and being a real-life rom-com couple.”

“He’s way out of my league!” Julie protests. “No way will he fall in love with me!”

“Isn’t that for him to decide?” Flynn sighs. “Jules, he reached out to you. I bet a ton of people have been propositioning him since he and Liz broke up, but he chose you. Give him a chance?” Flynn hands Julie her phone back. “Just tell him you’ll get coffee or something.”

“In public? Where people will recognize him and mob him and I’ll get pushed to the side and abandoned?” Julie shakes her head. “No, thanks.”

Julie pulls up Instagram again and opens her DMs.

**‘Ok so i'm not comfortable meeting you somewhere without getting to know you a little bit first.’**

Julie sees the bubble with three dots pop up and then disappear. It shows up again and then a message is there.

**‘Totally fair. Do you want to keep messaging or talk on the phone or...?’**

Julie grins. Luke Patterson has passed her first test. He isn’t pressuring her to meet up and appears to be open to giving her his phone number. She hesitates for a moment before DMing him her phone number. She’s startled when her phone immediately rings. It’s an unknown number with an LA area code. Her fingers shake as she hits accept.

“Hello?”

**“Hi, um, is this juliethephantom on Instagram? This is Luke Patterson from Sunset Curve?”**

“Oh, my god, you’re really calling me?”

**“Was that not okay? You sent me your number. I’m sorry, I can hang up if you don’t actually want to talk to me.”**

“No, don’t hang up! I’m just surprised. I wasn’t expecting you to call right away.”

Luke chuckles into the phone.  **“I was excited! I mean, you’re gorgeous and talented and I really want to meet you so...”**

“This feels backwards,” Julie muses. “Normally it’s the fan wanting to meet the celebrity, not the other way around.”

**“Well, when the fan is you, can you blame me?”** Luke grins.  **“You just seem... so full of life and happiness. You’re such an incredible singer and I honestly think that Insta video of you singing** **_Now or Never_ ** **for karaoke sounds better than the actual song.”**

Julie feels her face heat up and is glad that Luke can’t see her. “I was drunk! No way does it sound that good.”

“I may be many things, juliethephantom, but I’m not a liar. You’re amazing.”

“Julie,” she corrects. 

**“What?”**

“My name is Julie. You called me juliethephantom and I figured if we’re going to get to know each other, you should call me by my name, not my username.”

Luke is glad that Julie can’t see his fist-pumping into the air. He’s also glad that Alex and Reggie aren’t there to witness his happy-dance.

**“Well, Julie, I stand by my assessment. You’re uber-talented. Do you write music, too?”**

“Yeah. I haven’t posted anything I’ve written, though.”

**“Will you sing something for me?”**

Julie hesitates. “Um...”

**“You don’t have to!”** Luke is quick to clarify.  **“I just would love to hear you sing.”**

Julie sighs. “Okay. This is called  _ I Got the Music _ . Ready?”

**“Ready!”**

_ “Ain't gonna fight it 'cause it's useless/I can't get this music out of my head/It's like the beat is taking over/Weight off of my shoulders, dancing instead/And something's feeling different in the hallways/Something's looking, looking like it's changed/I've been moving to the rhythm for the whole day/A million lyrics running through my brain.” _

Luke can feel his jaw drop.  **“Julie, that was amazing! You wrote that?”**

“Yeah. It’s better with the instrumentals, though.”

**“It gets better? Julie, that’s not possible! Your song was amazing!”**

“It really isn’t that good, Luke.”

Luke goes on to try and convince Julie that she’s as talented as he says she is, then he shows her a snippet of some of his lyrics.

**“So this is what I’ve got,”** Luke proceeds to sing the majority of a song,  **“but now I’m stuck.”**

Julie hums the last bit Luke had sung for her for a moment, then starts singing. _ “I walk a lonely road/The only one that I have ever known/Don't know where it goes/But it's home to me and I walk alone/I walk this empty street/On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams/Where the city sleeps/And I'm the only one and I walk alone/I walk alone, I walk alone/I walk alone, I walk a-/My shadow's the only one that walks beside me/My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating/Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me/'Til then I walk alone...” _

**“Oh, my god, Jules, that was fantastic! Can I use that? Obviously, I’d give you credit but seriously, that’s perfect!”**

Julie chuckles. “Sure. You remember it all?”

Luke sings it back.  **“Sound right?”**

“Yeah, that’s it.” 

Luke grins.  **“You fixed that song so easily so can I run another one I’m stuck on past you?”**

They end up working on Luke’s songs for several hours before Julie realizes that it’s almost midnight and she has an 8 AM the next day, so she reluctantly hangs up. As she’s about to drift off, her phone buzzes. It’s Luke, asking for her last name.  **So I can give you credit on our album** .

She smiles, sending him a short text.  **Molina. Julie Molina.**


	2. Coffee and Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Julie meet in person for the first time.

Julie wakes up the next morning convinced that the night before was a dream. No way did she spend several hours on the phone with  _ Luke Patterson, _ of all people, writing songs. There’s just no way. When she looks at her phone, though, she almost drops it in shock. Luke’s text on her screen confirms the memories of the previous night.

**Good morning, Julie! Have a great class!**

Julie smiles.  **It’s an 8 AM on a monday. There’s no such thing as a great 8 AM, especially not on mondays.**

**Im sorry. Have a less miserable than usual class?**

Luke’s message makes Julie chuckle.  **That’s more realistic.**

She sets her phone down so that she can get ready. Once she’s dressed and her bag is packed, she goes to fill her travel mug with coffee. She groans when she realizes that they’ve used the last of the beans and no one got more. Glancing at her phone, she realizes that she won’t have time to make it to class if she stops to get coffee and resigns herself to a day of exhaustion. She needs to complain, so she shoots Luke another text.

**We’re out of coffee and I don’t have time to stop anywhere... pity me.**

She’s just arrived at the lecture hall when her phone buzzes again.  **So idk if you feel comfortable with this and feel free to say no, but... do you want me to bring you some coffee for after your lecture?**

Julie contemplates that. Yes, she’d only just ‘met’ Luke the night before but... she feels comfortable with him. And she  _ really _ needs coffee. 

**okay** she replies.  **Meet you outside auditorium 133 in the psych building in an hour and fifteen?**

Luke sends a thumbs up emoji then  **what am I getting you?**

**Peppermint mocha with whip**

**You got it, boss,** Luke replies.

Julie has to put her phone away then because her lecture is beginning and she gets so caught up in the debunking of the Stanford Prison Experiment that her professor is explaining that she forgets to be nervous about meeting Luke. It’s only once the lecture is over and she’s leaving the hall that she remembers. She remembers mostly because there’s a crowd of excited girls clumped around Luke. Luke is clearly uncomfortable, so Julie waves, trying to get his attention. She can tell when he sees her because his face splits into a big grin.

“Julie!” he calls, carefully slipping through the crowd of fangirls. He arrives in front of her and hands her the to-go cup. “Peppermint mocha, with whip.”

Julie smiles, taking a cautious sip. She groans in pleasure. “God, I needed this.”

Luke’s face brightens. “I didn’t know where you usually go for coffee so I asked Alex where his boyfriend goes. Willie’s a major coffee snob and I swear he ranted for half an hour about why chain coffee shops suck and why I had to get coffee from this one tiny place that basically no one knows about. Is it good?”

“Amazing. Where did you get this?” Julie leads Luke over to a bench outside the lecture hall her next class is in. They sit, angled towards each other.

“The Double Bean, over on Orchard.” He watches Julie take another sip of her mocha, enjoying the look of delight and relief on her face as the caffeine hits her system. “How was class?”

Julie sighs. “Too early. It was interesting, though.”

“Yeah? What did you learn?” 

“Have you heard of the Stanford Prison Experiment?” Luke shakes his head. “Okay, so basically, in the early 70’s, a Stanford professor, Philip Zimbardo, ran this experiment that supposedly proves that our prisons are designed to make the guards abusive. It’s one of the most famous studies in psychology and is in basically every textbook. My professor spent the whole class talking about everything that’s wrong with Zimbardo’s experiment and why it doesn’t prove anything. Honestly, it was more of an improv acting assignment than a genuine experiment.”

“Why?” Luke asks.

“Are you genuinely asking or just humoring me?”

“No, I’m genuinely asking. I like watching people talk about things they’re passionate about.”

Julie flushes. “Um, okay, so basically the experiment was designed to produce the results it got. Like, Zimbardo claimed that the students assigned to the guard role came up with the rules for the prisoners themselves, but a research assistant basically fed them ‘suggestions’ that were implemented. Zimbardo was trying to make a point more than he was trying to run a real experiment. Oh, and the guy who had a mental breakdown that got the whole thing shut down? He was faking.”

“That’s... okay, so I’m not sure I totally get it, but that sounds really interesting. Are you a psych major?”

Julie nods. “Yeah, I find it really interesting to learn about why my brain does the dumb stuff it does.”

“Your brain’s not dumb!” Luke protests.

Julie giggles. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant- okay, so, I have an anxiety disorder and sometimes my brain just decides to not work in a way that actually serves any purpose.”

Luke nods. “Alex has anxiety, too. Do you get panic attacks?”

“Yeah, sometimes.”

Luke considers Julie carefully. “Okay, so if we’re going to be spending time together, I’d like to know what helps when you have an attack. It’s better if you tell me now before it happens so that I know what to do when it does.”

Julie sets her coffee down on the bench next to her and hugs Luke impulsively. Luke happily hugs her back. Once Julie is settled back on the bench, Luke grins at her. “What was that for?”

“You’re really sweet.” 

Luke feels his face redden. “Why, because I asked how to help?”

Julie nods. “Yeah, most people don’t want to take the time to learn how to help.”

Luke frowns. “Well, that’s stupid.” He turns the subject back to Julie. “So what helps you and what should I absolutely not do?”

“I like physical contact, especially squeezing someone’s hand. It gives me something to ground myself to, but don’t just touch me. You need to warn me otherwise it spooks me.”

Luke holds up a hand to interrupt Julie. “Hang on.” He pulls out his song journal from the backpack he’d brought, taking a pen from the side pocket. He flips to a clean page at the back and starts writing. “I wanna write this down.”

Julie gives Luke a soft smile that makes his heart skip a beat. “You’re taking notes?”

Luke nods. “Of course. I don’t want to forget. I have a note for Alex, too.” He finishes jotting down what Julie has said so far, then gestures for Julie to continue. “What else?”

“Talk.”

“Talk?”

“Yeah, about anything, really. Doesn’t even have to be in English. I probably won’t process any of it anyway, so...” Julie shrugs.

“Then why am I talking?” Luke asks, confused.

“It gives me something to focus on. What else... so, basically, you just have to wait. The things I’ve mentioned help keep it from getting worse but once it’s started, it just has to run its course. Oh, I can’t talk while the attack is happening and then after it’s over, it’s really hard to talk. Like, I can do it if I absolutely have to, but it’s super draining and difficult.”

Luke nods thoughtfully. “How long does that last?”

“It depends. If I take a nap, I’m normally verbal again when I wake up, but otherwise, it can be anywhere from a few minutes to the rest of the day.”

“Okay. Is there anything else I should know?”

Julie tilts her head, considering. “I don’t think so. Oh, wait, cuddles! After the attack, I like to cuddle.”

Luke grins. “I can do that.”

Julie glances at her phone and frowns. “I gotta go to class.”

Luke’s face drops. “Can I see you again?”

“Yeah. Um, do you want to...”

“Yes.”

“You don’t even know what I was asking!” Julie protests.

“Don’t care. If it means seeing you, I wanna do it.”

Julie flushes. “I was gonna ask if you wanted to see my mom’s studio?”

Luke’s eyes light up. “Your mom has a studio?”

“Had. She died six years ago in March.”

Luke’s face crumples. “Oh, Jules, I’m so sorry. Can I give you a hug?”

Julie nods, so Luke wraps her up in a tight hug. When she pushes at his shoulders to get him to let go, he releases her. “So, do you want to see her studio?”

Luke smiles. “I’d love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have officially reached peak psych nerd with this chapter. I go on Julie's rant about the SPE all the time. If you're curious, here's a good article that explains it well. https://gen.medium.com/the-lifespan-of-a-lie-d869212b1f62


	3. The Studio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Luke has no chill.

Julie’s last class for the day ends, so she sends a text to Luke. **I’m done with class for the day. Want to go see the studio now?**

Luke responds almost immediately. **YES! Do you want a ride?**

**Sure. i can meet you outside the psych building?**

Luke sends a thumbs-up emoji, so Julie sits down on the building’s exterior steps, pulling her song book from her backpack. She chews on the end of her pen as she hums a little melody.

 _“Running from the past/Tripping on the now/What is lost can be found, it's obvious/And like a rubber ball/We come bouncing back/We all got a second act, inside of us...”_

Julie gets so lost in the song she’s writing that she drops her pen in shock when Luke appears in front of her.

Luke smiles at her. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. Is that a new song?”

Julie shoves her song book back into her backpack and shoves the pen into her bun. “Yeah, I think I’m gonna call it _Edge of Great._ You ready to go?”

Luke nods, holding out a hand to help Julie up. “Yeah, I parked down the street.”

He leads her to his car and Julie is pleasantly surprised to find that it’s not some ostentatious sports car. It’s a Subaru Crosstrek, which is a good car, but not the kind of six-digit vehicle she was worried he’d have. She is, however, not sure if she appreciates the bright orange color. They climb in and Julie plugs her address into Luke’s GPS. 

“Oh, fair warning, we’re going to my dad’s house which means he’s probably going to come say hi.” 

Luke glances over at Julie, worried. “Is he going to be cool?”

Julie laughs. “Are you asking if my dad is going to freak out about meeting a rockstar?”

“No, I’m asking if I’m going to be threatened about treating you right.” Luke pauses. “Is he going to freak out about meeting a rockstar?”

“You’ll be fine, Luke.”

“That’s not a ‘no.’”

Julie grins evilly. “I’m his little girl, Luke. What do you think?”

“Is it too late to go somewhere else?”

The GPS takes that moment to squawk out, “Take the next left and then your destination will be on the right.”

Julie laughs. “Yes.” 

Luke pulls up outside the house and turns to look at Julie. His expression of genuine fear makes Julie laugh harder.

“Don’t laugh at me! I’m scared! What if he doesn’t like me?”

Julie sobers, putting a hand on Luke’s arm. “Luke, take a deep breath. My dad’s chill.”

“But I just got you to meet me today! What if he decides I’m not good enough and makes you stop seeing me?”

“I’m an adult, Luke. I don’t need my dad’s permission to see someone.” Julie unbuckles her seatbelt. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

Luke sighs, getting out of the car. “Should I bring my guitar?”

Julie smirks at Luke. “You act like we don’t have three in the studio.”

“I have got to see this studio!” Luke says, eyes wide.

“Later. First we’re going to say hi to my dad.”

Luke groans. “Why can’t we see the studio first?”

“Because it’s my studio and I say so,” Julie rolls her eyes. 

Julie leads Luke to the front door, letting herself into the house. Luke’s eyes go to the man sitting at a desk in a room past the stairs.

“Is that your dad?” Luke whispers.

“Hi, Papí!” Julie says excitedly. She hurries over to give the man a hug and he hugs her back.

“Julie! Mija, I didn’t know you were coming over today.”

Julie grins. “I wasn’t planning on it, but I wanted to show Mom’s studio to someone.”

“Is he the someone?” Ray asks, noticing Luke, who is still hovering by the door.

“Yeah. Papí, this is Luke. Luke, this is my dad, Ray.” Julie waves Luke over and he shakes Ray’s hand.

“So, who is Luke, exactly, mija? Your boyfriend?”

Julie tilts her head, considering. “You know, I’m not exactly sure how to answer that.”

“I’d like to be,” Luke offers. “And to be fair, you did tell me to date you.”

Julie smacks Luke on the shoulder. “I’ve told you a thousand times, I wasn’t serious!” She sighs. “Sure. Papí, this is Luke, my boyfriend.”

Luke feels his face split into a huge grin. “Yes!” 

He picks Julie up and spins her around in the air. Julie squeals, grasping his shoulders. Ray chuckles, enjoying seeing someone so clearly happy to be with his daughter. When Luke finally sets Julie down, still smiling like all his dreams have come true at once, Julie grabs his hand, tugging him back towards the door.

“Bye, Papí!” Julie waves, shutting the door behind her. She guides Luke around the house to the studio, where she pulls open the left door.

Luke follows her into the studio and stops dead in shock. “Julie, this place is amazing!”

“You like it?” 

Luke runs a hand over the piano, then turns his attention to the guitar resting on a stand next to the couch. “Like it? I love it, Jules!” He reaches out to touch the guitar, then pauses. “Can I?”

Julie laughs, taking a seat on the piano bench. “Sure, Luke.”

Luke sits down on the couch, guitar in his lap. He starts strumming, then tilts his head, listening to a song that’s only in his head. He pulls out his phone and sets it to record audio, then starts singing.

_“In a world that's full of darkness you're my light/When everything gets heavy/You're what keeps me steady/And when innocence is nowhere to be found/In you I find the cure/You're so good and pure/Everything that I love/Everything that is good/Everything that is right about me/I believe/You are the best thing in my life/So thankful that you're mine/When everything fades we'll be ok/I'll be saying/You are the one thing that I need/No matter what life brings/Through the highs and the lows/I want you to know/You're the best thing in my life/You're the best thing in my life.”_

Julie smiles, listening to the song. It’s sweet and cute and a genuinely good song. She immediately finds herself wondering who it’s about. Liz Larson, she assumes.

When Luke finishes singing and ends the audio recording, she starts applauding. He turns to her, a big grin on his face. “What did you think?”

“I liked it! It’s a good song.”

“Good. It’s about you so it would’ve sucked if you didn’t like it.”

Julie freezes, her hands hovering over the keys of her piano. “It’s- that song is about me?”

She can feel the anxiety rising. He wrote her a love song already? They literally just met that day. How can he feel enough for her to write that already? Does he expect her to love him? She forces herself to take a deep breath but it catches in her throat.

Luke notices that she’s not okay impressively quickly. “Jules? Are you okay?” She shakes her head. “What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

“The song,” Julie struggles to get the words out. “Too fast.”

Luke’s eyes widen. “I’m so sorry, Jules. I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. I don’t expect you to- okay, so the thing is that I express my emotions through music. Writing a song helps me process.”

Luke’s attempts at explaining aren’t helping. Every word that comes out of his mouth makes it seem more and more like he’s deeply and desperately in love with her and that’s too much for her to handle right now.

“Stop.” 

Luke’s mouth shuts. Julie cautiously gets up from the piano bench and sits down on the floor. She can feel the panic attack starting and she knows if she stays on the bench she’ll probably fall off. She curls up in a ball and wraps her arms around her legs. Face buried in her knees, she doesn’t see Luke pulling out his notebook to review the list from earlier in the day.

“Julie, do you want to squeeze my hand?” 

Julie is past the point of being able to talk, so she just holds out her hand for him. He comes to sit down in front of her, legs crossed, and reaches his hand out. 

“I’m going to grab your hand now. Is that okay?” 

Julie nods, so he takes her hand. Her grip is almost painfully tight, but he caused this panic attack so he’d be more than willing to deal with actual pain to help her through it. She’s shaking still, so he starts talking again, this time in French. The things he was saying in English seemed to make it worse, so he figures French is safer because he can’t say the wrong thing if she can’t understand what he’s saying. Slowly, her shaking stills and her grip on his hand relaxes. 

“You doing better, Jules?” She tilts her free hand from side to side. “Do you think it would help if I explain myself?”

Julie lifts her head, then. She stares at him searchingly for a moment, then waves her hand to signal for him to go ahead.

“Okay, so I’m gonna start by saying I’m not in love with you.” Julie’s body relaxes slightly. “So, basically, for me, I fall in love with someone’s music first and then, occasionally, maybe with them. I watched every song you have on Insta and I fell for your voice. That does not mean I’m in love with you. It means there’s potential there. It’s why I was so desperate to meet you and why I wrote that song. It’s about your music more than it’s about you. Does that make sense?”

Julie nods, bringing a grin to Luke’s face. “Are we okay now?” Julie nods again. “Is the song okay now?” Julie smiles at him, pointing to the guitar. “You want me to play it again?”

Julie gives him a thumbs up, so he grabs the guitar, playing the song again as best as he can. He needs to listen to the audio recording again and write it down, rehearse it a few times before he’ll really be able to just play it, but it’s close. The smile on Julie’s face as she listens to the song makes the tension in Luke settle. He’d been worried when his song had triggered a panic attack, but she’s smiling now, so that’s good. 

When the song ends, Luke sets the guitar back down then comes back over to Julie. He holds out a hand to help her up and is startled when she hugs him as soon as she’s back on her feet.

“Julie?”

“You’re such a dork,” she says, grinning at him.

Luke’s eyes widen. “You can talk!”

Julie bursts out laughing. “Yes, you dork. Music can help get me my words back.”

Luke pulls the pen out of Julie’s bun and adds that to the list of things that help.

“Does it matter what song?”

“I’ll want to pick. Sometimes it doesn’t help and the wrong song can send me back into an attack.” 

Luke makes a note of that, as well. “I’m glad you’re doing better now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Used: Best Thing- Anthem Lights


	4. You've Got Some 'Splaining to Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this at four in the morning having not slept at all since Saturday night (it's technically Monday now- 5:30 AM) so I apologize for the shortness and any errors or weirdness present.

When Luke drops Julie off that night, she collapses on the couch, exhausted. Flynn, whose Monday classes are all in the morning, looks up from her laptop where she’s working on an essay.

“You okay, Julie?”

Julie groans. “I had a panic attack earlier.”

Flynn sets aside her laptop and gets up, coming over to hug Julie. “You doing better now?”

“Yeah, just drained.”

“Any idea what triggered it?”

“Oh, I know exactly what triggered it.” Flynn raises an eyebrow expectantly, so Julie continues. “Luke wrote me a love song.”

“Okay, you need to back up like 10 steps. By Luke do you mean Luke Patterson? Like, Sunset Curve Luke Patterson?”

“Yeah, we’re dating now.”

Flynn needs to take a second to process this. “Since when?”

Julie glances at her phone. “About two hours ago?”

“Julie, please just explain what happened today? Last I heard, you were worried about replying to his DM.”

“Okay, so I told him I wasn’t comfortable meeting him until I got to know him a little bit, so we spent about six hours on the phone last night. Um, then he texted me good morning and I complained about being out of coffee- oh, we ran out of coffee- and he offered to bring me some after my first class. So he brought me my peppermint mocha- we have to go to the Double Bean sometime, they’ve got great drinks- and we talked for a while. I explained to him about my panic attacks and what to do when they happen (he asked how to help) and then we agreed to meet after I was done with classes to go to my mom’s studio.”

“Okay, wait, pause. I need a minute to process all this.” Flynn just sits there for a bit then sighs. “You can continue.”

“So, he drove me to the studio and we went inside to say hi to Papí. Papí wanted to know if Luke was my boyfriend and Luke said he’d like to be, so I said he could and then we went out to the studio where he borrowed Mom’s guitar and wrote me a song. I had a panic attack because I thought he was telling me he loves me and it’s way too soon for that but apparently it was more a love song about my music and eventually maybe me? It’s a really good song, either way. He helped me through my attack and then he explained the song, drove me back here and I came inside which brings us to now.”

Flynn blinks at Julie, then bursts out laughing. “You’ve had quite the day, huh?”

Julie grins at her friend. “Yeah, it’s been a lot.”

“Okay, so Luke Patterson of Sunset Curve is your boyfriend now?” Flynn clarifies. “You, Julie Molina, who, as recently as yesterday, swore she wouldn’t risk heartbreak, are now dating a literal rockstar?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Okay, well, tell me about him.”

“Oh, my god, Flynnie, he’s such a dork.”

“Yeah?” Flynn raises an eyebrow. “How so?”

“He wrote a song calling me the best thing in his life within twenty-four hours of finding out I exist.”

Flynn snorts. “That’s kind of sweet, though.”

“He is! He’s so sweet. He let me babble about what I learned in class and he immediately asked me how he can help when I have an attack when he found out I have them and he brought me coffee and he endured a half-hour rant about coffee shops so that he could make sure he was bringing me the best coffee and he keeps trying to make sure I’m comfortable with him…” Julie trails off. “I really like him.”

“I can tell. Is he as cute in person as he is in pictures?”

Julie rolls her eyes. “Cuter.”

Flynn scoffs. “Not possible.”

Flynn’s phone buzzes then, a picture of… is that Carrie Wilson? on the screen. Flynn immediately flips her phone over, trying to hide it, but Julie catches it.

“Why is Carrie Wilson calling you?”

Flynn bites her lip. “Promise you won’t be mad?”

Julie sighs. “I can’t promise that until I know what’s going on, but I will try to be courteous about whatever is happening.”

“Carrie’s my girlfriend.”

“Like, you’re dating?” Flynn nods. “Since when?”

“It’s our two-year anniversary on the 18th.”

Julie’s jaw drops. “You’ve been secretly dating Carrie for two years?”

“Yeah,” Flynn says quietly. “I’m sorry, I know you hate her.”

“What? No, Flynn, I don’t hate her. I don’t even know why Carrie and I are rivals anymore. I think it might have had something to do with a crayon? My point is, I don’t care! I just hate that you didn’t feel like you could tell me.” Julie sighs. “I just want you to be happy, Flynnie. If you’ve been dating Carrie for that long, she must make you happy.”

“She does. I’m in love with her, Julie.”

“Then I can be civil. You should have her over sometime. I’d like to meet her as my best friend’s partner, not as the girl I’ve been arguing about nothing with since preschool.”

Flynn’s smile is blinding. “You mean it?”

Julie hugs Flynn. “Of course. Maybe we can go on a double date?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Okay, then it’s a plan. I gotta go to bed, though. It’s been a hell of a day and I just need to sleep for the next forty-eight hours.”

Flynn chuckles. “You’ve got class tomorrow.”

“Don’t remind me.”


	5. The Guys

Luke had convinced Julie to meet Alex and Reggie after class on Tuesday, so when she gets out of her last lecture, he’s waiting for her, leaning against the wall opposite the lecture hall. Julie squirms her way through the crowd around him and wraps him in a hug. Luke presses a kiss to Julie’s hair, then takes her hand when she releases him.

“You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Julie sighs.

“Well, I’ve got something that’ll make you smile.”

Luke unzips the main pocket of his backpack and pulls out a thermos. Julie’s eyes light up.

“Is that…”

“A peppermint mocha from the Double Bean? Yes, yes, it is.” Julie makes grabby hands at it. Luke holds it over her head. “You can only have it if you take a deep breath and try to be excited about meeting the guys.”

Julie takes a deep breath as instructed. “Fine. It’s gonna be better than an 8 AM, right?”

Luke rolls his eyes. “That’s a super low bar, but yes, it will be better than an 8 AM.” He passes her the thermos and then digs a golden box out from the depths of his bag, handing that over, too. “Also, I realized that we’ve never tried the other bean from the Double Bean. Like, you rave about their coffee but they’re also a chocolate shop, so I got a sampler box.”

Julie smiles. “You’re so sweet.” 

She passes the chocolates back to Luke, who zips his backpack and holds out a hand to Julie. Julie unscrews the lid of her peppermint mocha and takes a sip, then recaps it. She tucks the thermos into the water bottle pocket on her own backpack, before finally taking Luke’s hand.

“All set?”

Julie nods, following Luke to his car. She distracts herself from her nerves by playing music from his phone. After a couple of random songs she likes, she goes into his audio recordings. 

“Can I play Best Thing?” She asks at the next stoplight.

Luke turns to look at her. “Are you gonna have a panic attack if you do?”

Julie groans. “That was one time!”

“Go ahead.”

In a matter of moments, the guitar fills the car. Luke’s singing comes through the speaker and Julie grins. “I love this song.”

“Good, because it’s the last one you’re gonna get to play on this car ride.” He pulls into a driveway and parks. “We’re here.”

“Can we finish listening to the song before we go in?”

“Of course.” Luke starts singing along to the music playing through the sound system and Julie watches him, enjoying the happiness that’s always evident in Luke’s eyes when he’s making music.

Finally, the song ends and Luke gets out of the car. He comes around to open Julie’s door for her, holding out a hand. She grips his hand tightly as she accompanies him into the house. 

Two guys are lounging on the couches in the living room. Alex, the drummer, and Reggie, the bassist. They look up when Julie and Luke enter the room.

“Luke, you’re back! Good, I need your help.” Reggie waves the notebook in his hand. “I wanna write Alina a love song but it’s not going well. Help?”

Luke frowns. “I, uh, I’m not sure.”

Alex and Reggie sit up straight, looking at Luke in shock. 

“Did you just say you’re not sure about writing a song?” Alex asks.

“It’s not the ‘writing a song’ part that I’m worried about. I just don’t know how my girlfriend will feel about me working on a love song for someone else.” Two jaws drop. 

“Your what now?” Reggie exclaims.

Julie, who had been mostly hidden behind Luke, waves awkwardly. Luke pulls her around in front of him and wraps his arms around her waist.

“This is Julie, guys. My girlfriend. Julie, this is Alex and Reggie.”

“Hang on, back up. How did you two meet?” Alex’s reaction mimics Flynn’s so perfectly that Julie has to smile.

“I don’t like this story,” Julie says, flushing, face hidden in Luke’s chest.

“Oh, come on, boss. I think it’s cute!” He turns his puppy dog eyes on Julie. “Can I tell them?”

Julie sighs. “Fine…”

“Okay, so remember how the label made me make a statement when Liz and I decided to stop fake dating?” 

Julie interrupts the retelling of how they met to exclaim, “Fake dating? You and Liz Larson weren’t actually together?”

Luke frowns. “I didn’t tell you that?” Julie shakes her head. “Oh, well, we’re honestly just friends. We only pretended to date so that she would have a friend to go to awards shows and stuff with. We ‘broke up’ so that she could for-real date some other guy.”

“That’s… actually kind of sweet.”

Luke turns his attention back to the guys. “So, anyway, I made the statement and Julie here posted a selfie on Insta and tagged me with the caption ‘date me’ so I poked around her profile and decided to go for it.”

Julie holds her hands up defensively. “For the record, I was not serious.”

“Whatever, Jules, we all know you like me.”

“Okay, moving on... So, what kind of musician are you?” Alex asks.

“What makes you think I’m a musician?”

“Luke is dating you. Enough said,” Reggie says with a chuckle.

Julie has to admit that he has a point. “I play the piano.”

“She’s also got a voice like a wrecking ball! Oh, and her lyrics are killer!” Luke eagerly takes the opportunity to brag about his girlfriend.

“Wait, is she the girl that helped you fix  _ Boulevard? _ Because that was really good,” Alex compliments.

“Yeah, that was me.” Julie flushes under the cumulative weight of all three of their gazes.

“Will you play something for us?”

“Um, sure, I guess. I was working on something yesterday, but it’s not done. I can show you what I’ve got, though?”

“Yes, please!”

Julie bites her lip. “Do you guys have a piano or a keyboard?”

“Yeah, in the studio.” Luke takes Julie’s hand and leads her down the stairs into the basement, Reggie and Alex following.

Julie takes a seat behind the keyboard and taps a couple random keys, checking the sound. “Ready?”

“Go for it!” Luke encourages.

_ “Running from the past/ tripping on the now/what is lost can be found/it’s obvious./and like a rubber ball/we come bouncing back/we all got a second act/inside of us/I believe/I believe that we’re just one dream/away from who we’re meant to be/cause we’re standing on the edge of/something big, something crazy/our best days are yet unknown/ that this moment is ours to own/ ‘cause we’re standing on the edge of great.” _

Julie stops singing abruptly and lifts her gaze from the keyboard to the guys. Alex and Reggie look dumbfounded, while Luke just looks proud.

“Julie, that was amazing!” Reggie exclaims, bouncing on his heels.

“Thank you. It’s called  _ Edge of Great _ and it’s not done yet, but...”

“No buts, Julie, that was incredible!” Alex reassures her. “Like, wow. How long have you been working on that?”

“I started it yesterday. It’s what I was working on when you showed up to drive me to my mom’s studio, Luke.”

“You’re a star, boss,” Luke says with a grin. “An absolute star.”


	6. Carrie? Civil?

“Carrie’s coming over in a few minutes to hang out. Is that okay?” Flynn asks as Julie enters the apartment they share.

“Of course! Do you want the apartment or…” Julie puts her hand back on the doorknob.

“No, I- I want you and Carrie to get to know each other. Like, the actual people you are, not the feuding toddlers you’ve been.”

“Ouch.” Julie smirks at her best friend. “I thought we were at least middle-schoolers.”

Flynn chuckles. “I’ll give you eight-year-olds.” She pauses. “She’s really cool, Julie. I think if you gave her a chance, you’d really like her.”

“Of course I’ll give her a chance, Flynnie. She’s your girlfriend. I still feel terrible that you felt like you had to hide this from me.”

“I was ready to tell you after about five months,” Flynn protests. “By that point, we’d realized that we were in love and I wanted you to meet her. Carrie was the one who didn’t want you to know. She said that I’d wanted to keep our relationship secret for a reason and that she loved me too much to risk our friendship.”

“That’s actually really sweet. I’m glad you’re with someone who loves you that much.”

The buzzer that signals that someone wants to get into the building goes off, startling the girls. Julie, who is still by the door, buzzes Carrie into the apartment. A few moments later, there is a knock on the door. Julie opens it, revealing her rival.

“Oh, hi, Julie. Is Flynn in?”

Flynn pops up behind Julie, a grin on her face. “Care Bear!” She slips past Julie to hug Carrie.

“Hey, Rider.”

“Rider?” Julie asks, confused.

“Yeah, like Flynn Rider from Tangled,” Flynn explains as they migrate over to the couch, Julie taking a seat on the shorter half of the L. “It’s better than her first nickname for me, which was Eugene.”

Julie winces in sympathy. “For someone who writes such good lyrics, you really suck at nicknames, Carrie.”

She claps her hand over her mouth, embarrassed to have failed at the ‘civil’ thing so quickly, but to her surprise, Carrie laughs.

“I really do.” She pauses, suddenly looking shy. “You think my lyrics are good?”

“Yeah. I may not have been a fan of you, but Dirty Candi’s songs have always been good.”

“You think my songs are good? Have you heard yours? I mean, you’ve got a voice like… I don’t have words.”

Julie blushes. “Luke says I have a voice like a wrecking ball.”

“Luke?” Carrie looks confused.

“My boyfriend.” Julie’s phone rings then, the custom ringtone set to Best Thing, and she glances longingly at the screen. Luke is the only one that sets off that ringtone and she loves talking to him but making nice with Carrie and proving to the girls that their relationship is okay with her is more important.

“Go talk to him, Julie,” Flynn encourages. Julie declines the call, shooting off a quick text saying that she was in the middle of something important and would call him later.

“Nah, I can call him later. This is more important.”

“What song was that?” Carrie asks. “It sounded like Luke Patterson from Sunset Curve but I don’t recognize it.”

“You’re right and you wouldn’t. He wrote it for me.”

Carrie’s jaw drops. “Wait, Luke-your-boyfriend is Luke Patterson?” Julie nods. “How did you guys even meet?”

Julie flushes. “Online.”

Flynn bursts out laughing. “Decided that implied online dating is less embarrassing than the truth?”

“Whatever, Flynn.”

“Wait, let me get this straight. Luke Patterson of Sunset Curve wrote you a love song?” Carrie can’t move past this, partially because Luke had admitted in an interview that he’d never written a love song before and probably wouldn’t.

“Sort of.” Carrie just raises an eyebrow expectantly at Julie, so she continues. “He said it was really more of a love song about my music.”

“So… he wrote you a love song.” Carrie’s smirking at Julie, just waiting for her to try and deny it but…

Julie starts thinking back to the lyrics and to what, exactly, Luke had said and… was it a love song? She starts shaking slightly. This time, the panic isn’t that she’s worried that Luke is in love with her so much as it’s about ‘is she worthy of his love?’

Flynn clocks the start of the panic attack almost instantly and gets up from the couch, coming to crouch in front of Julie. Carrie watches, feeling incredibly guilty. She was just teasing, she didn’t mean to cause a panic attack.

“Hey, hey, Julie, deep breaths. Just breathe with me. In, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four.” Flynn is trying and she knows what to do. She’s been friends with Julie forever, so of course she knows how to help, but it’s just not working. “What do you need, Julie? Do you want to squeeze my hand?”

“Luke.” Julie barely manages to gasp out the name, but then Flynn is grabbing Julie’s phone and unlocking it and calling Luke.

**“Hey, Jules. What’s up?”**

“Hi, Luke. This is Flynn, Julie’s best friend? Uh, she’s having a panic attack and she wants you.”

**“Where are you guys?”** Luke sounds frantic and she can hear him running around. A muffled, “Alex, where are my keys?” is immediately followed by a slamming door.  **“Flynn, where are you?”**

“Our apartment. Do you know where that is?”

**“Yeah, can you put me on speaker so I can talk to Julie?”**

The engine is audible through the phone. Flynn obligingly puts the phone on speaker and Luke starts talking.

**“Julie, I’m on my way, boss.”**

Luke switches to French and just babbles away as he drives. A few minutes later, they can hear a car door slam through the phone and then the buzzer to the apartment goes off. Carrie jumps to let Luke in and then Luke is rushing through the door, pushing past Carrie to get to Julie. Flynn moves aside to let Luke handle this. If he’s who Julie wants, then he’s who Julie gets.

“Hey, Jules. Can you look at me?” Julie lifts her head, and Luke frowns at her red eyes and damp cheeks. “Okay, boss. Do you want to squeeze my hand?” Julie shakes her head. “Do you want me to hold you?”

Julie nods, so Luke opens his arms to her. She climbs into his lap and rests her head in the crook of his neck. His arms go around her and he rubs her back softly. He continues the quiet murmuring in French and slowly Julie relaxes in his embrace.

Once she’s settled, she stands up, grabbing Luke’s hand. She tugs him along to her bedroom, waving goodbye to Flynn and Carrie. Inside her room, she reclines on her bed and gestures for Luke to join her.

“You want to cuddle?” Luke clarifies. Julie nods, so he snuggles in next to her and cards his fingers through her hair, listening to her breathing even out as she falls asleep.


	7. Bonding

Carrie and Flynn give Julie and Luke an hour before coming to check on them. Luke is reclined against the headboard, Julie tucked under his arm, her head resting on his chest. She’s fast asleep, Luke’s fingers still playing with her curls.

“Is she okay?” Flynn asks quietly.

Luke considers that. “I think so? She seemed calmer by the time she fell asleep.”

“Good! I feel so bad, I didn’t mean to make her that upset.” Carrie bites her lip. “I wanted today to go well. I wanted to make friends with her and- and- and…”

“Hey, Care Bear, no. You didn’t do anything wrong. She’s not mad at you,” Flynn says.

“What happened?” Luke asks.

“So, you know how Julie’s ringtone is that song you wrote her? When you called, Carrie asked about the song and we were joking about how it’s totally a love song and she just started panicking,” Flynn explains.

“It  _ is _ a love song,” Carrie points out. “She says you said it isn’t, but it totally is, right?”

Luke flushes. “Yeah,” he admits, pressing a kiss to Julie’s head. “It is.”

“Then why did you tell her it isn’t?”

“Because when I told her it was about her, she had a panic attack. I- she said it was too fast so I tried to backtrack because I didn’t want to scare her away.”

Julie shifts, then, snuggling closer to Luke. The other three occupants of the room freeze, trying not to make any noise.

“Okay, so as Julie’s best friend, I am obligated to give you a talking to. I can tell that you care about her, but you’ve already caused her to have a panic attack. If you hurt her, you won’t live to see another day,” Flynn glares at Luke.

Carrie, despite not being friends with Julie, is determined to start being a good friend and this is as good a way to start as any, says, “I have contacts. We can and will kill you and your body won’t be found.”

Flynn and Carrie high five at the look of fear on Luke’s face. The clapping sound of their hands colliding echoes through the room and they all turn to look at Julie, worried. She stirs, eyes blinking slowly.

“Hey, Jules. You okay?” Luke asks Julie.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Thank god. I’m so sorry, Julie. I wasn’t trying to upset you! I was just joking around and I wanted today to go so much better than it did and I’m really, really sorry.” Carrie’s rambling cuts off when Julie holds up a hand.

“Carrie, you’re fine. It was an accident. I’m not mad at you, okay? Thank you for apologizing and thank you for buzzing Luke in so Flynn could stay with me in the meantime. You didn’t do anything wrong and when I got upset you did exactly the right thing.”  
Carrie’s whole body relaxes. “Okay, good. Um, I know this is probably none of my business, but… are you seeing anyone for the panic attacks? Because my dad has a really good therapist that I could give you the name of.”

“That’s really nice of you, Carrie. I was seeing someone for a while but she wasn’t very helpful and I always ended up having an attack during our appointments so I decided it wasn’t worth it.”

Carrie nods. “That makes sense. Maybe trying a different person could be helpful? If you ever want the number for my dad’s therapist, just let me or Flynn know, okay?”

Julie nods. “Thanks. Can we, uh, can we change the subject?”

Luke can feel how tense she’s gotten against his side and asks everyone if they want to order a pizza for dinner. Flynn sits down on the foot of Julie’s bed and offers a counter-proposal. 

“Chinese?” 

Carrie’s face lights up as she takes a seat in Julie’s desk chair and Julie relaxes in Luke’s arms, so he surrenders. “Where do you guys order from?”

Julie and Flynn look at each other and grin. “Hong Anh Palace.”

Luke pulls out his phone, careful not to dislodge Julie, and pulls up the delivery app. He searches up the restaurant and plugs in his order: orange beef. “What do you want, boss?”

Julie tilts her head, contemplating. “I think I’ll go with the shrimp egg foo young. Carrie? Flynn?”

“Moo Shu pork,” Carrie announces. “Do you want to split it, Flynn?”

“Yeah. Oh, Luke, you need to get four egg rolls.”

“Four?”

Julie chuckles. “You can’t get Hong Anh and not get egg rolls. They’re massive and amazing.”

Luke obligingly adds the egg rolls to the order and places it. “It’ll be here in about thirty-five minutes.”

“Sounds good. Flynn, can you pass me my song book?” Julie asks. 

Flynn hands her the notebook and a pen. “You got something?”

Julie bites her lip.  _ “If I leave you on a bad note/leave you on a sad note/guess that means I’m buying lunch that day./I know all your secrets/you know all my deep dish/guess that means some things they never/ they never change/we both know what I/what I mean./When I look at you it’s like I’m looking at me!/My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo/without you.” _

“Oooh, that sounds good!”

Julie flushes at Carrie’s praise. “Thanks. It’s about your girlfriend.”

“That makes a ton of sense. She’s your best friend and is absolutely amazing. Of course, your life would suck without her.” Carrie flushes. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Julie giggles. “I know, Carrie. My life  _ would _ suck without Flynn. She’s kinda great, right?”

“Aw, my two favorite people are bonding over me!” Flynn coos. 

The two people in question turn to face Flynn with matching glares. 

“We’re not bonding over  _ you,  _ Rider. We’re bonding over Julie’s awesome lyrics,” Carrie retorts. “They just happen to be lyrics about you.”

Julie grins at Carrie. “Exactly! Come over here and give me a high five!”

Carrie scoffs. “If you want a high five so badly, why don’t you come over here?”

“I’m comfy!” Julie protests.

Luke grins. “I’ll give you a high five if you want, boss.”

Julie pecks a kiss to Luke’s cheek. “Thanks, honey, but it’s gotta be Carrie.”

Luke’s distracted, though, his hand coming up to cover his cheek where Julie had kissed.

“Julie, I think you broke your boyfriend,” Flynn says with a laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Chinese restaurant is based on the one I go to when I visit my parents. It's amazing and also over 2000 miles away from LA so they definitely wouldn't be able to order from there but...


	8. Paparazzi and Panic

Luke has started meeting Julie outside her Monday morning lecture every week with her coffee so it’s only a matter of time before the media catches on. It’s been about a month of coffees and this time, when Julie hugs Luke as he carefully holds the coffee away from them so it doesn’t spill, the area lights up with the flashes of a dozen cameras.

Luke carefully turns them so that he’s blocking Julie from the view of the cameras, but the paparazzi move with them and the lights and shouted questions start to overwhelm Julie. She’s shaking in his arms and he can feel the tension in her body that signals an approaching panic attack. Luke guides Julie over to the bench under a window, setting the coffee on the windowsill and pulling Julie down into his lap.

“Hey, Jules, you’re okay. Can you do some deep breaths with me? In, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four.” 

Julie tries the breathing exercise but her breath keeps catching on the exhale and so Luke tries another tactic.

“Here, boss. Do you want to squeeze my hand?” Julie latches onto his hand, gripping tightly. “Can we try the breathing again?”

Julie nods slightly, so Luke starts the count back up. Eventually, the paparazzi seem to have gotten enough pictures of them just sitting there breathing and counting, so the camera flashes slow, then stop altogether. Someone is still taking video, but subtly enough that Julie can focus on Luke talking to her and the feel of his hand in hers. The paparazzi are still there, but they’re being less invasive now, so Julie is able to settle.

Luke grins when Julie lifts her head, pressing a kiss to Julie’s forehead. “You doing better now?”

She nods, begging him with her eyes to get her out of there.

“You wanna go?” Julie nods. “My house or your apartment?” Julie raises an eyebrow. “Right, yes or no questions. Do you want to go to my house?”

Julie nods, so Luke helps her stand, shouldering her backpack, then wraps an arm around her waist. She points at the coffee still sitting on the windowsill and Luke chuckles.

“You still want your mocha, huh?” He grabs it, handing it to his girlfriend. She takes a sip, then smiles at him. “Is it still warm enough?”

Julie gives him a small smile and nod as he helps her out to the car. The paparazzi follow, but they only take the occasional photo and don’t yell anymore so Julie is able to stay calm.

Once they’re settled in the car, Luke hands her his phone. “You wanna play music?”

Julie grins at him, pulling up Best Thing. Luke smiles. “You really like this song, don’t you?”

When they arrive at Luke’s house, the guys are waiting for them in the living room.

“Hey, uh… you need to see this,” Reggie says, gesturing at the muted TV.

On screen is a local talk show, playing a clip of Julie having her panic attack and Luke comforting her. Once unmuted, Luke realizes that the hosts are debating who Julie is and why Luke is holding her. They’re trying to figure out why she’s crying and what Luke did (because they’re convinced that Luke is the reason she’s crying).

“The label wants you to make a statement. They want you to say something about who Julie is and what’s happening in these clips and photos. Ideally, they’d have the two of you go on a talk show, but they said an Insta live would work, too, if you save it.” Alex sighs. “I know this is going to be hard for you, Julie. Interviews and public statements are nerve-wracking for me, too, and I’ve been doing this for several years, but Luke is gonna hold your hand the entire time if that helps.”

Luke frowns. “We can’t do it now, though.”

Reggie’s brow wrinkles in confusion. “Why not?”

Julie points at her mouth and shakes her head. Luke translates for her, saying, “Julie gets nonverbal when she has an attack and she doesn’t have her words back yet.”

“That’s… not ideal. Maybe you guys post a picture and a written statement now, then do the live when you’re verbal again?” Alex suggests.

Luke looks at Julie, lifting her chin to get her to lock eyes with him. “What do you want to do? We can wait until you have your words to post anything, we can do Alex’s idea, or we can do a live where I do all the talking.” He takes her hands in his. “Squeeze my hand once for a video now, twice for a post then a live, or three times for a live later.”

Julie hesitates, then squeezes Luke’s hands twice. Luke grins, passing her his phone, open to his Instagram. 

“Pick a picture, okay?” 

Julie scrolls until she finds one of Luke cupping her face in his hands, soft smiles on their faces. She types a caption, then hands it to Luke for approval.

He reads what she’d written. ‘The best thing in my life: my girlfriend, @juliethephantom’

“Perfect. Then we can make a video about what happened today and post that once you have your words?” Julie nods, so Luke uploads the post. 

Waving to Alex and Reggie, she grabs Luke’s hand and pulls him towards the stairs to the basement studio. Alex and Reggie follow them, curious. Once they’re in the basement, Julie hands Luke his guitar and takes a seat on the couch. 

Luke laughs. “Best Thing?”

Julie nods, gesturing at him to go for it, so he does.  _ “In a world that's full of darkness you're my light/When everything gets heavy/You're what keeps me steady/And when innocence is nowhere to be found/In you I find the cure/You're so good and pure/Everything that I love/Everything that is good/Everything that is right about me/I believe/You are the best thing in my life/So thankful that you're mine/When everything fades we'll be ok/I'll be saying/You are the one thing that I need/No matter what life brings/Through the highs and the lows/I want you to know/You're the best thing in my life/You're the best thing in my life.” _

Alex and Reggie exchange a look. That’s the sappiest thing they’ve ever heard Luke write and they can tell by the way Luke looks at Julie while he sings that the song is totally about her. When they catch Luke’s attention, he shakes his head softly, trying to tell them without words not to say anything.

Alex mouths, “we’ll talk later.”

Luke nods, finishing the song. “Did that help, Jules?” She opens her mouth, then frowns. “Yes, but not enough?” Julie nods. “Do you want me to play it again?”

Julie bites her lip, looking shy. 

Luke frowns at that. “If you want to hear it again, I’d be more than happy to play it for you. I’ll always play for you.”

Julie smiles, nodding, so Luke plays her song again. As the last chords die, she tries talking again.

“Thank you.”

Luke’s face lights up at the sound of her voice. He sets the guitar aside, hugging Julie. 

“I’m happy to help, boss.” He pulls back slightly and locks eyes with her. “Do you need more time before we do the live?”

She considers that for a moment. “I think I need to get it over with? I think waiting will just give me more time to get anxious about it?”

Luke nods. “Okay, if you’re ever uncomfortable, we can stop the live and take a break or you can get up and leave. Don’t force yourself to stay and give yourself another panic attack, boss, okay?”

“Okay,” Julie says, voice small.

“Do you guys want us here or not?” Reggie asks.

“Stay?” Julie looks at them pleadingly.

“Of course, Julie. Whatever you need.” Alex takes a seat on the stool behind his drum set and Reggie sits on the piano bench. “We’re here for you, okay?”

Julie nods, so Luke pulls up Instagram and tugs Julie closer to him so that they’re both visible in the shot. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Luke launches the live and presses a kiss to the top of Julie’s head as people join the live. 

“Hey, everyone!” Luke’s smile is fake but looks real to anyone who doesn’t actually know him. “Surprise live, featuring my girlfriend, the amazing Julie Molina. We wanted to address some stuff that was in the media earlier today. There’re some photos going around of me holding Julie while she cries and we think it might be helpful to clear some things up.”

Julie takes a deep breath and starts talking. “Okay, so, we need to start by giving you guys some background information. First of all, Luke was not the reason I was upset in the video. He was helping me through my panic attack. I have an anxiety disorder and sometimes things become too much and I just kind of fall apart. Certain things trigger the attacks. In this case, it was the paparazzi. The cameras and flash and shouted questions are really overwhelming, guys.”

Luke chuckles. “They really are. So, what you guys saw in the video is what I know works to help Julie. Not everyone experiences attacks the same way and not everyone benefits from the same things.”

“Sometimes, I don’t benefit from the same things that I usually do. Like, music can help, but it has to be the right song and a song that helped a previous time might make things worse. Luke’s actually really good at helping me, though, so I got lucky.”

“Aw, I think I’m the lucky one.”

Julie swats Luke on the shoulder. “You’re so cheesy. Another thing that happens when I get panic attacks is I lose the ability to speak. Not permanently, obviously, but for the duration of the attack and a while after.”

“That’s why we waited for a while before starting this live,” Luke explains. “We needed to wait for Julie to get her words back.”

“So, we hope this helped explain the video and photos. I need to not be thinking about all of this for a bit, so we’re gonna go. Have a great day!”

Luke ends the live, saving it carefully. “How are you doing, Jules?”

“Can we cuddle for a bit?” Julie asks. “I just need to be held.”

Luke nods. “Here or in my room?”

Julie climbs onto his lap and tucks his arms firmly around her. “Here.”

Julie closes her eyes, resting her head on Luke’s shoulder and just letting the sounds of him talking with Alex and Reggie soothe her to sleep.


	9. How Do I Say I Love You?

Once they’re sure that Julie is asleep, Alex and Reggie turn to gape at Luke.

“What the hell, man?” Alex explodes on Luke. “You wrote her a love song?”

Luke shushes the drummer, anxiously checking to make sure Julie’s still asleep. “Yeah, but don’t tell her.”

“What do you mean, don’t tell her? She just heard you play it,” Reggie points out.

“Yeah, but she doesn’t know it’s a love song.” Luke sighs. “She had a panic attack when I played it for her the first time because she said it was too fast, so I told her it was about her music, not her.”

“When did you write it?” Reggie asks.

Luke flushes. “The day I met her?”

Alex facepalms. “Seriously, dude? You wrote her a love song the day you met her and were surprised when she freaked out about it?”

“Yeah, I mean, she’s just so amazing. How could I not fall for her?”

Reggie coos at that. “You really love her, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.” Luke scrubs at his face with the hand that’s not holding onto Julie. “I can’t tell her though. I don’t want to overwhelm her. How do I know when she’s ready for me to tell her?”

“Ask her friends,” Reggie suggests.

Luke and Alex look over at him, surprised. 

“That’s… actually a good idea.” Alex says.

“I have good ideas sometimes!” Reggie protests.

Luke picks his phone up from the couch cushion where he’d discarded it after doing the live, pulling up Flynn’s contact. They’d exchanged numbers so that they could call each other if Julie needed support.

When Flynn picks up, Luke starts talking a mile a minute. “Flynn, I need your advice.”

**“Is Julie okay? I saw the video and your live.”** Flynn’s priority is making sure that Julie’s okay. She can deal with Luke’s crisis after.

“She’s asleep on my lap. I’m hoping that when she wakes up, she’ll be feeling better.”

Flynn sighs in relief.  **“Good, I was worried about her.”**

“I think she’ll be okay,” Luke reassures Flynn. “Can I ask you my question now?”

**“Sure, I guess.”**

“How and when do I tell Julie I’m in love with her?”

**“Uh…”** Flynn struggles to formulate a response.  **“Why are you asking me?”**

“Because you’re her best friend and when I wrote her Best Thing she freaked out. She had an attack when she thought I wrote her a love song and I don’t want her to have another when I tell her I’m in love with her.”

**“Luke, it’s kinda obvious. You’re not subtle, dude.”**

“I just don’t want to scare her away. What do I do, Flynn?” Luke would be on his feet, pacing, but Julie’s still sleeping on his lap and he can’t disturb her.

**“Okay, listen. This is breaking all kinds of best friend rules, but remember that panic attack she had the day we met? That wasn’t because Carrie made her think you were in love with her. It was because she was worried about being worthy of your love. Just tell her, okay?”**

“Wait, she- seriously? She doesn’t think she’s good enough for me? She’s everything I want and more.”

**“I know that and you know that but Julie’s insecure. Maybe don’t tell her right away but show her?”**

“Like, what, buy her flowers and shit?”

**“Well, you could do that, but I was thinking maybe writing her a song that’s indisputably a love song about her and play it for her?”** Flynn sighs.  **“Look, I can come over with Carrie and we can help you figure out what to do and say if you want.”**

“Yes! Thank you!”

* * *

When Julie wakes up again, Flynn and Carrie are there. Julie’s not sure how or when they would have arrived, but they’re sitting in the studio, chatting with Luke. Luke is the first one to realize that Julie is awake, probably because he can feel her move in his arms. She shifts slightly, then stretches, blinking slowly.

“Hey, Jules. How are you feeling?” Luke asks, brushing his thumb over her cheek.

“Better. What time is it?”

“About 4:30,” Carrie says.

Julie startles. “Carrie? What are you doing here?”

Luke chuckles. “I called Flynn because I thought you might want her and so she came over.”

Flynn comes to sit next to Julie and Luke on the couch. “You want a hug?”

Julie squeezes Flynn’s hand. “Thanks, but I’m good right now.”

Carrie can’t hold in her rant anymore and it all spills out. “I can’t believe those photogs! They caused your panic attack and then they just kept taking pictures and videos? That’s just so not cool.”

Julie smiles softly at Carrie. “I know, but I’m okay. Still kinda drained but I’m doing alright now.”

“I have half a mind to go down to the news station and throw hands.” Carrie huffs. “Who wants to come with me?”

“No! No beating people up for me. I’m okay, you guys. Seriously.”

“Julie, you said you’re still drained and you’ve been asleep for like four hours. We’re just worried about you,” Alex explains. “You’ve had a hard day and it shouldn’t have been like this.”

Julie sighs. “I know. My boyfriend should be able to bring me coffee after class without a mob of paparazzi, but it is what it is. Beating up the photogs will only reflect badly on you guys and get you arrested. I just want to move on. How did people react to the live?”

Luke grins. “They loved it. Apparently we’re ‘super cute together’ and most people are really mad at the paps for what they did. A bunch of people want to know if we’re going to make more posts or videos about anxiety and mental health, especially since Alex has been open about having anxiety, too.”

Julie tilts her head, considering. “Like, talking about our experiences with it?” Luke nods. “We can do that, I guess.”

“You don’t have to, Jules,” Luke offers reassuringly. “It’s just something to think about.”

Julie sighs, burrowing her face back into Luke’s neck. Her breath tickles his skin as she says, “I need to think about it and I don’t have the energy to right now. Can we talk about it later?”

Luke runs his hand over Julie’s hair. “We can talk about it whenever you want or not at all if that’s better. I just want you to be happy.”

“Can we go lie down?” Julie asks, still exhausted from the day she’s had.

“Of course, boss.” Julie stands up, grabbing Luke’s guitar on the way to his bedroom.

“Will you play Best Thing for me again?” Julie requests once they’re settled in his room.

Luke grins. “Of course.” He presses a kiss to Julie’s forehead. “I’d play it until my fingers bleed if it helps you.”


	10. All of Me

Luke is determined to make Julie understand how much she means to him. Flynn’s idea of writing a song that’s indisputably a love song about Julie is a good one, so he gets to work while she’s in class the next day. Sitting on the couch in the studio, Luke strums his guitar, singing the lyrics he’s working on.

_“What would I do without your smart mouth?/Drawin' me in and you kickin' me out/You've got my head spinnin', no kiddin'/I can't pin you down/What's goin' on in that beautiful mind?/I'm on your magical mystery ride/And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me/But I'll be alright/My head's under water, but I'm breathing fine/You're crazy and I'm out of my mind/'Cause all of me/Loves all of you/Love your curves and all your edges/All your perfect imperfections/Give your all to me/I'll give my all to you/You're my end and my beginnin'/Even when I lose, I'm winnin'/cause I give you all of me/ and you give me all of you, oh-oh…”_

Alex, who had arrived midway through the first verse, watches from the doorway. When Luke finishes singing, Alex claps. Luke jumps, startled.

“You really love her.” It’s a statement more than a question, but Luke answers anyway.

“Yeah.” Luke sets aside his guitar and digs in his pocket, pulling a small, velvet box out. He flips it open, showing Alex the ring inside.

“Whoa. Don’t you think you should tell her you love her before you propose?” Alex asks hesitantly.

“I’m not proposing,” Luke protests. “I- it’s a promise ring. I need- I really want her to be wearing my ring but I know she’s not ready, so I’m going with a promise ring. And I’m not even doing it now, I don’t think.”

Alex claps Luke on the shoulder. “I’m happy for you, man. Julie’s special. You could do a lot worse and probably not any better.”

Luke scoffs. “Julie is exactly who I want. There’s no one better out there.”

“You’re so cheesy,” Alex says, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, well, you’re cheesy with Willie, so you have no room to talk.” Luke tucks the ring back into his pocket and gets up. “I’m going to go pick Julie up from class.”

He packs his guitar away in its case and grabs it by the handle. He waves at Alex as he heads out of the house, settling into his car.

His fingers drum on the steering wheel the whole drive, nerves coursing through him. He’s going to play All of Me for Julie today and he’s worried. What if she doesn’t like it? What if she doesn’t love him back? What if she has another panic attack?

Luke takes a deep breath, putting on a smile as he sees Julie approach the car. She climbs into the front passenger seat and grins at Luke, leaning in for a quick kiss.

He kisses her back (of course he does, he’ll always kiss her back and besides, it helps settle his nerves) then suggests they go to her mom’s studio.

Julie raises an eyebrow. “Any particular reason?”

“I have a song I want to play for you and I’d rather not have someone bursting in while I do it.”

“...Okay, then. The studio, it is.”

The car ride is spent rocking out to the radio, Luke playing the chords of the songs on air guitar when they’re at stoplights and both of them singing along at the top of their lungs. When they arrive, Luke grabs his guitar from the backseat and takes Julie’s hand, tugging her along the path to the studio.

He sits her down on the couch and takes a seat on the coffee table, facing her.

“This song is called _All of Me._ It’s about you and it is what it sounds like.” Luke takes a deep breath, starting the opening chords of the song. 

Julie watches Luke, awe evident in her gaze. When he finishes singing, she takes his hand in hers. “This time it’s about me, right? Not just my music?”

Luke nods, chuckling. “Yeah, that’s what the _‘all of me loves all of you’_ bit was supposed to make clear.” He looks nervous, then. “Did you like it?”

Julie nods, grinning. Luke sets aside his guitar and comes to sit next to her on the couch. He pulls her to him, pressing a sweet kiss to her lips.

When he releases her, she leans back in for one more kiss. “I loved it, Luke. It was perfect.”

Luke’s face lights up. “Good.” He takes a deep breath. “I love you so much, Jules. You’re everything to me.”

Julie kisses him once more and he can feel the smile on her lips. “I love you, too.”

Luke knows he was planning on waiting, that it might still be too soon for a promise ring, but... He gets down on one knee in front of Julie, fishing the box out of his pocket. 

“Julie, I love you. I wanted to propose but I didn’t think that you’re ready for it, so... This is a promise ring. I love you and I want to marry you whenever you’re ready. This ring is a symbol of my commitment to you and my hopes for our future together. Will you wear it?”

Julie’s eyes tear up, but she holds out her hand for Luke to put the ring on. “Yeah. I’d be honored to wear your ring, especially because you love me enough to wait to propose. Luke, thank you.”

Luke whoops in excitement at her acceptance. He slips the promise ring onto her finger and pulls another box out of his other pocket. Julie smiles when she sees that it’s a matching ring, a silver band with a heart cut-out to match her silver band with a heart-shaped diamond.

“Can I wear your ring?” Luke asks.

Julie takes the box from him and takes the ring out of its box. She holds out her hand for his, and almost laughs at how fast he extends his hand. She carefully slips the ring onto his finger and presses a kiss to it.

“I love you, Luke.”


	11. Love Songs

Luke had suggested that Julie invite Flynn and Carrie over for a movie night with the band and their significant others. He figured it would be fun for her to have all of her friends together, hanging out and just generally having a good time.

They’ve just turned the lights back on after the first National Treasure movie in their double-feature when Reggie notices it.

“Oooh, cute ring, Julie!”

Julie grins. “Thanks, Reg. Luke got it for me.”

Carrie grabs Julie’s hand. “Jules, is that what I think it is? Is that an engagement ring?”

Willie spots Luke spinning a coordinating ring around on his finger and gapes at them. “Luke has a new ring, too.”

Carrie and Flynn turn to Julie, matching eyebrows raised. “Julie Molina, did you get married without telling us?”

Julie rolls her eyes. “What do you think?”

The room erupts into shouting and chaos and Julie and Luke just sit there holding hands and waiting patiently for their friends to settle down. After a couple of minutes, Luke gets annoyed and decides to interject.

“You guys!” He yells. 

No one hears him over the argument about whether Julie would actually have married Luke already. The general consensus is that Luke absolutely is impulsive enough to have proposed but the room is split on whether Julie would actually have said yes. 

Flynn and Carrie are united in their beliefs that Julie would not have said yes already because of the panic attack she had when Luke wrote her Best Thing. Willie and Reggie think that Julie would have said yes because how could she say no to Luke? Alina thinks that Julie had a panic attack when Luke asked, said no, then said yes once she was calm. Alex, the only one of the friend group to actually know that it’s a promise ring, tries to say something but is ignored.

Luke sighs, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“Julie, this is going to be loud,” he warns his girlfriend. 

She claps her hands over her ears as Luke searches YouTube for a video of someone setting off an airhorn, cranks the volume, and hits play on the first result. 

Hands are instantly covering ears as the room goes silent except for the blaring airhorn. Luke stops the video and takes a deep breath.

“Do you guys want to stop arguing long enough for us to tell you who’s right?”

Sheepish looks pass between the arguing friends.

“Yeah, sure,” Willie concedes.

“We’re not married. We’re not even engaged, guys,” Luke says. “I’d love to be Julie’s husband or at least her fiance but she’s not ready, so these are promise rings.”

Flynn and Carrie squeal. 

“A promise ring? That’s so romantic!” Flynn gushes.

“How’d he ask?” Carrie’s looking for a cute story and she isn’t disappointed by what she gets.

“He wrote me a love song. He played it, told me it was about me, not just my music, that he loves me, that he wants to propose but knows I’m not ready, and asked if I’d wear a promise ring.”

“Can we hear this song?” Alina asks.

Luke looks at Julie. “I’ll play it again if you want.”

Julie claps her hands together, excited. “Yes!”

Reggie grabs Luke’s guitar from the stand in the corner of the room and hands it over.

Luke starts strumming.  _ “What would I do without your smart mouth...” _

When the song ends, Alina turns to Reggie. “Why haven’t you written me a love song?”

Reggie raises an eyebrow. “Who says I haven’t?”

“You finished it?” Luke asks. Reggie nods. “Awesome! I told you you didn’t need my help.”

“Will you play it for me?” Alina asks.

Reggie nods, taking Luke’s guitar.  _ “ _ _ Blue-eyed ballerina/God only knows how much I need ya/From day one, I knew you were the one/Gimme your hand, and I'll give you mine/You're the reason I look forward to coming home at night/What's the point of sleep if it's not with you?/Your lipstick on my cheek looking like a tattoo/My ballerina, sway me side to side/All I need is a little love and care tonight/Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh/Woah-ooh, oh-oh-oh, mmm-mmm-mmm...” _

Alina takes Luke’s guitar from Reggie, passing it back to Luke. She climbs onto Reggie’s lap and kisses him.

“That was really sweet, Reg.”

Willie turns to Alex, eyebrow raised. Alex looks back, then bursts out laughing.

“You want me to write you a love song? Because I don’t think that’s a good idea. I suck at lyrics and having the only instrument I can play as the only instrument in the song is gonna sound awful.”

Willie laughs, too. “Yeah, don’t write me a love song, hotdog.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: All of Me- John Legend (like a line of it), Ballerina- Jeremy Shada.


	12. The Mental Health Platform

Alex and Julie had spent much of the afternoon filming content for their first video of their mental health platform. Willie had volunteered his services as videographer (they’d asked Julie’s dad to do it but he was already booked solid for several months) and Luke had volunteered his services as emotional support.

They’re wrapping up editing the clips of Julie when Luke runs out to the Chinese place to pick up dinner. He promises to be back soon, and Julie just waves him away.

Alex hits play to see how the video looks and Julie watches carefully. On screen, she’s talking about several of the things that can be triggers for her attacks and it’s just suddenly too much. She can feel herself starting to get panicky and starts fidgeting with her bracelets. It’s not helping, though, so she tries the breathing exercises that have been recommended to her. Every time her breath catches, though, her panic spikes and she can feel the inevitability of this attack. Curling into a ball on the couch, she reaches one arm out to wave away Alex’s laptop. He looks at her curiously until it hits him: Julie is having an attack.

Alex frowns. “Hey, hey, Julie, take a deep breath with me?” 

He starts the breathing sequence that he’s seen Luke talk Julie through but the shaking only gets worse. The only thing Alex can think of is to get her his weighted blanket. He knows that that helps him, so maybe it’ll help Julie? He gets up, telling Willie to keep an eye on Julie while he retrieves his blanket.

Willie crouches down in front of Julie. “Do you want to squeeze my hand?” Julie holds one hand up to her ear, miming talking on the phone. “You want me to call someone?” Willie asks. “Who do you want?” Julie holds up her other hand, fingers forming an L. “Luke?”

Julie nods vigorously, so Willie grabs his phone. When Luke answers, the sounds of the restaurant come through the phone.

**“Hey, Willie. I’m just leaving. I’m maybe twenty minutes out?”**

“Well, you better hurry,” Willie says.

**“Why? Is everything okay?”**

“Julie’s having an attack.”

Willie can hear Luke curse in the background. A car door slams and Luke sighs.  **“Okay, have you tried the counting? In for four, hold for four, out for four?”**

“Yeah. Alex is getting her his weighted blanket. She doesn’t want to squeeze my hand. She just mimed for me to call you.”

**“Okay, I’m going to send you a couple of audio files. Ask her if she wants Best Thing or All of Me and play it on repeat until I get back.”**

Willie’s phone dings with a couple of incoming texts and he nods. He realizes then that Luke can’t see him and repeats himself verbally. “Okay, I got them. I’m gonna hang up now so I can play them?”

**“Sounds good. Tell Julie I’ll be there as soon as I can.”**

Luke hangs up, so Willie opens his texts. “Julie, Luke sent me two songs for you. I have All of Me and Best Thing. Do you want All of Me?” Julie nods her head. “Best Thing?” Julie nods her head again.

Julie nods, so Willie hits play on the first audio file. The opening notes of All of Me are quiet, so Willie turns the volume up. Alex comes in with the weighted blanket then.

“Hey, Julie, this is a weighted blanket. It’s heavy and feels like a hug. Do you want to try it?” 

Alex wraps the blanket around Julie at her nod. She tugs the fabric tighter around her shoulders, bringing it with her as she moves to lay down. Between the weighted blanket and the music, now Best Thing, Julie’s shaking slows. Her breathing is still too fast, but then Luke is there, crouching in front of her.

“Jules, I’m here. I’ve got you. Do you want to squeeze my hand?” 

Julie shakes her head, patting the couch next to her. Luke sits down where she indicates, opening his arms. His girlfriend climbs into his lap, dragging Alex’s blanket with her. Luke hugs Julie as Alex comes to adjust the blanket so that it covers them.

Julie’s breathing is at a normal rate again but her breath catches every now and then, so Luke holds her tighter. “Do you want to hear a new song? I wrote you another one.”

Julie locks eyes with Luke, searching for something. Whatever she finds prompts her to nod. 

_ “A summer rain is passing over/And it feels like a dream/I could run and look for shelter/But you hold onto me/I'm under your skies/I'm caught in your eyes/Don't you know you stop the room/And all that I can see is you/I'm standing where the lightning strikes/I know this doesn't happen twice/You must be my once in a lifetime, in a lifetime/You must be my once in a lifetime.” _ Luke’s soft singing must help because Julie settles in his arms, closing her eyes. She rests her head in the crook of his neck and slowly drifts off.

Once Luke is sure that Julie’s asleep, he turns his attention to the other occupants of the room. 

“What happened?”

Alex sighs. “I’m not sure. We were watching the video to make sure it looked okay and she just… fell apart?”

Willie concurs. “It’s like she was doing great, she seemed proud of the video, and then suddenly she wasn’t doing great anymore. It was really fast. She was smiling at the video, then she started using her breathing technique and then she was just having an attack.”

Luke sighs. “That’s not good. What part of the video were you guys on when it started?”

Alex facepalms. “Of course. It was the part where she was talking about potential triggers.”

Luke nods. “Yeah, that was probably too much on top of the emotional drain of filming.” Luke glances down at the blanket draped over him and Julie. “Do you think the blanket helped?”

“Yeah, she stopped shaking once she was wrapped up in it.”

“I’m gonna get her one.” Luke pauses to think about that. “I’m going to get her two.”

“Why two?” Alex asks.

“I want to keep one here and one in her apartment.” He smiles softly, looking down at Julie in his arms. “I can’t wait until I can get her to come live with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used is Once in a Lifetime by Landon Austin


End file.
